Automatic intake check valve



Dec. 1924- 1,529,585

w c. LussoN AUTOMATIC INTAKE CHECK VALVE Filed Aug. 10, l920 Patented Dec. 23, 1924.

U NITED STATE-S P A TENT O FFICE.

WALTER C. LUSSON. OF HAVERFORID. PENNSYLVANIA..-

AUTOMATIC INTAKE CHECK VALVE.

Application filed AugustlO, 1920.

To all ill/[OWL it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER C. Lesson, a citizen of the United States, residing in Haverford, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, have invented an Automatic Intake Check Valve, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tanks adapted to contain volatile liquids, such as the gasoline tanks of automobiles, and more particularly to devices for relieving the partial vacuum formed in said tanks by the withdrawal therefrom of the contained liquid. Particularly in motor vehicles where a gravity system of gasoline feed is employed, it is essential that as the gasoline is drawn from the tank there be means for equalizing the pressure within the tank with that of the atmosphere in order that the gasoline may continue to discharge. It is common practice in such cases to form a small aperture in the otherwise air-tight tank through which the air may enter as the gasoline is withdrawn. A great disadvantage of this means for equalizing the pressure is that the rich mixture of gases wiich forms in the tanks above the gasoline is permitted to escape through the aperture, which is never closed, thus permitting a considerable loss of gas.

The object of my present invention is to provide means whereby the said equalization of the pressures is achieved automatically and without loss of gasoline through evaporation.

A clearer understanding of the invention may be obtained from the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a plan view of a cap or cover plate for a tank equipped with my device;

Fig. 2, is a vertical section of a portion of the tank showing the opening through which gasoline is introduced, with a cover plate or cap for said opening equipped with my device, and

Fig. 3, is a view in perspective of the cap shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

With reference to the drawings, 1 indicates a portion of the body of a tank, said tank having an opening 2 therein providing an intake for gasoline. Extending outwardly from the edges of said opening is, in the present instance, a flange 3 internally threaded to cooperate with corresponding thread p n cover plat or c p said Serial No. 402,712.

cap being adapted to be screwed down into the flange 3 to close the said opening.

Formed preferably in the cap 4 is an aperture 5 for the admission of air to the tank when the opening 2 is closed by the said cap. In the present instance the cap 4t is formed with a recess 6 in the under side thereof, the said aperture 5 being located in the top of said recess, and established in said recess and adapted to engage the inner edges of and to close the said aperture 5, is in the present instance a ball valve 7, said ball valve normally being held to its seat closing said aperture by means of a spring 8 established in a sleeve 9 secured by means of threads 10 formed in the sides of the annular recess 6 and in the sleeve itself, or in any suitable manner to the cap 4 in position imn'iediately below the aperture 5. The open bottom of the sleeve 9 is closed in the present instance by means of a threaded plug 11, against which the bottom of the spring abuts, said threaded plug providing means for regulating the tension of the spring 8 and consequently the pressure with which the ball 7 is forced to its seat on the under side of the aperture 5.

At a point in said sleeve above the top of the plug 11 is an opening 12 providing communication between the interior of the sleeve to the interior of the tank. It will be seen that when the ball 7 is forced inwardly so as to open the aperture 5, that a clear passage into the tank from the exterior thereof is provided.

The operation of the device will be apparent. As the gasoline leaves the tank, the partial vacuum formed thereby is automatically relieved by the action of the valve 7, said valve automatically opening when the difference in pressure between the atmosphere and the interior of the tank becomes greater than the force which the spring exerts to hold the ball 7 to its seat, closing the aperture 5. It will also be seen that the valve normally being closed, the volatilized gasoline which accumulates above the surface of the liquid is retained in the tank and is not permitted to escape, as would be the case were the aperture 5 continually open.

It will be understood that the air inlet aperture may be located at any point in the top of the tank body instead of in the cover plate, as herein illustrated, and. that numer ous modifications of the device are possible with no departure from the essential features of the invention.

I claim:

In combination, a tank adapted to contain a volatile liquid, said tank having an inlet opening, a movable cover for said in let opening provided with a perforation having an enlarged portion to provide a shoulder adapted to serve as a valve seat a tubular member threaded into the said enlarged portion of said perforation and having a side aperture, a cap threaded into the lower end of said tubular member at a point below said side aperture, a spring confined within said tubular member and extending up into the enlarged portion of said cover perforation, and valve element normally supported by said spring upon the said valve seat and closing the said perforation.

lVALTER C. LUS SON. 

